LAKE ORION >> Orion area developers will spend the next 12 to 18 months devising plans to rehabilitate the Ehman Center, a long vacant building that used to be a school and is just a few blocks from the main intersection.

Kellie McDonald, an Oakland Township resident, Christian Mills, Todd Garris and Scott Garretson, all from Orion Township, bought the 40,000-square-foot, three-level building on June 24. The previous owner foreclosed on the property, and the developers will spend between $4 million to $6 million to renovate the structure at 55 W. Elizabeth St. The entire project could take two years.

McDonald, owner of the private Goddard School, and the other Orion Township residents have been meeting for nine months to discuss ways to invest in the community. All Lake Orion High School graduates, except Garretson, they formed the Legacy LO group.

“We came together with an interest in forming the legacy group with the intention of giving something back to our community either through property development, charity work or business development. We have a lot of ideas that are still in the works. This project is a result of that. We all live in the community. It’s important for us to keep our money and our investments in our hometown.”

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The project is in the preliminary stages, but the developers are tentatively planning to rehab the structure into 23 to 25 loft-style condominiums and repurpose the old school gym into restaurant, retail and office space. They hope to preserve the historic nature of the building erected in the early 1900s - right down to the original Dragon seal on the gym floor.

“We want to restore and maintain the historical integrity of it,” McDonald said. “That’s very important to us.”

Previously, the building served as the school for the entire Lake Orion district, then became an elementary school before being used by nonprofit groups.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for downtown,” said Suzanne Perreault, Downtown Development Authority Executive Director. “The preservation and redevelopment of the Ehman will have a tremendous positive impact on our community. The school building and property is certainly a gem and to rehabilitate it into a unique housing development will bring a lot of interest to downtown as well as attract a new demographic. It’s very good to see a team of Lake Orion business people form a development group and provide a vision for that property. I am excited to see this project evolve and move forward.”

While they have each done development projects individually, this is the first time they have worked as a partnership.

“We want to reinvest our money in our community for the better of the community,” McDonald said. “This is a landmark building that should not be abandoned. We feel that housing is needed in the downtown. And to jump start a downtown and revive it, housing should be the first thing that comes into play. Where there are people, there’s activity. Right now, we feel that’s potentially the best use of the building, but it’s still early.”